SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 21.35% from the company’s current price.

SLM has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on SLM from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of SLM from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of SLM from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

SLM Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SLM opened at $22.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.95, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66. SLM has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $23.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.27.

SLM (NASDAQ:SLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The credit services provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.32. SLM had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 41.84%. The business had revenue of $783.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that SLM will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at SLM

In other SLM news, Director Robert S. Strong sold 4,500 shares of SLM stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.70, for a total value of $102,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 101,093 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,811.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SLM

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SLM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SLM by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,136,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $633,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,557 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in SLM by 5.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 12,461,356 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $271,626,000 after buying an additional 674,424 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SLM by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,687,920 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $118,248,000 after buying an additional 119,342 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SLM by 23.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,453,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $92,589,000 after buying an additional 859,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of SLM by 107.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,366,642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $49,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.94% of the company’s stock.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts.